Pacific Salmon and Steelhead
Pacific Salmon and Steelhead
Quick Facts
About
Spring Chinook Salmon. Credit: Michael Humling, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Pacific salmon and steelhead have a dynamic life cycle that includes time in fresh and saltwater habitats. These fish are born in freshwater streams and rivers, migrate to coastal estuaries, then enter the ocean where they mature. They usually return as adults to the same streams where they were born to spawn and begin the cycle again.
NOAA Fisheries manages and protects several species of fish in the Salmonidae family in both the Atlantic and Pacific. Some are threatened or endangered and protected under the Endangered Species Act. Others are targeted by commercial and recreational fisheries and are managed under the Magnuson-Stevens Act to maintain healthy, sustainable population levels.
Pacific salmon and steelhead include the following species:
Chinook Salmon
Chum Salmon
Coho Salmon
Sockeye Salmon
Pink Salmon
Steelhead Trout
Learn about our work to manage and protect salmon and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest:
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Last updated by NOAA Fisheries on 11/02/2023